Trichome Colour & Flushing Timing

[Veritas629]

I'm nearing the end of my first grow and need a little guidance on flushing and harvest timing.  My grow is a single Northern Lights in a DWC tent.  I'm about 6wks after the 12/12 flip with the buds starting to bulk up a bit, but they look to have some more bulking up to do  All trichomes are clear still, which I confirmed with a hand microscope (60-100x).  I know I should flush with plain pH'd water for 7-14 days prior to harvest.  The hard part for me is that I haven't grown anything before , let alone this particular strain.  A survey of the internet suggests a harvest time around when I have 10-30% amber trichs.  I'm cool with that, but how do I judge when 1-2wks before is?  How rapid is the progression of all clear to mostly cloudy to turning amber? 

 

Not know means, if I guess late and flush late, I end up more amber and more couch locky.  Too early, and I miss some potency.  Neither is the end of the world, but...  

 

Also, if I too flush early and end up flushing say 3wks, do I stunt the development of buds or trichs?  Does no nutes equal smaller buds or under-ripe trichs?

 

[Beginner_bud]

G'day buddy,

 

Can't really comment too much on the whole timing thing because it's only my second grow, but from memory the colour change doesn't happen overnight. It takes days if not weeks.

 

And about your comment in regards to no nutes for the last few weeks = slowing bud growth. From my reading this isn't true. Flushing just forces the plant to use all its stored nutrients in the flower which will cause your lower leaves to go yellow and die off as your plant focuses its energy on the flowers. I don't think it will stunt the growth of your flower if you flush for 3 weeks instead of 2. You'll probably just have cleaner smoking bud and more yellowing leaves which isn't an issue at all.

 

Not to mention, you can harvest your plant in batches, so if you've flushed for two weeks and your amber trichome percentage isn't totally to your liking, you can always harvest 1/4 of the plant then and the remaining as the trichomes change. You don't have to harvest the entire girl all at once.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

BB

 

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Serrated edge]

I looked at your diary, photos from 10 Jan show one tip looking like a bud with the other tips a little behind ,,,

 

So if you take 10 January as day one of budding then it's is now at day 26.

 

Personally I'd start the count about 2 days after those photos were taken ,,because most tips looked like they were about a day or two off looking like that one branch that had a bud started.

 

Then at about day 49 ,depending on how it's going ,,whether it needs to fatten up more or looks nearly done,,then I'd consider when to flush.

 

The exact days means nothing really but a guide on when to harvest.,,and always takes longer than they advertise.

 

If you like THC in your brain then pick when you see just a few amber...

 

I reckon those triche colour charts should only be used as a rough guide as well.

 

I read somewhere Some sativas hardly get any amber ,,could be wrong but wouldn't be surprised

[midlifegardner]

I've grown NL several times now. I flush when I'm happy with the colour of the trics. They hardly change once you start flushing. If you're in DWC you need not do it for weeks but rather only a few days. So be happy with the colour of the trics, then flush.

 

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[merl1n]

Old skool Commercial growers go 8weeks or when the pistils (white hairs) turn brown

Things have been refined a bit more using scopes to check trichome colour. 

But if you leave her those pistils will brown, die off and disappear. Meanwhile the bud swells from within as a new set of pistils develop and burst forward

I allow my plants to go thru this process 3 times, pushing her to 12wks. Then I flush for 5-7 days, changing my flush fluid (straight pH adjusted water) daily. So that's 13 weeks all up.

The additional maturity is well worth the wait (and weight). The maturity also shows in the flavour and aroma of the resulting smoke. The hash is exquisite 

Is it worth it? HELL YEA!!!

Put it this way, I'll never do another 8week grow again

 

Edit: I've also found that once you start you flush the maturing process pretty much stops, so get her to the colour and maturity you want, then flush. Don't be thinking 'Ohh she'll mature more during her flush period", she won't.

 

Merl1n

Edited February 5, 2019 by merl1n

[Veritas629]

A couple votes for: Wait for good rich colour and then flush. That certainly has appeal, because it's easy and nullifies the week counting. I'll probably aim for that, unless someone offers a reason it won't work well.

 

General question, when people talk about flowering weeks do they mean from time of light flip or actual bud formation? I assumed light flip and maybe that has been my confusion all along.

 

Trich colour question, should I check trichs on the actual bud or are sugar leaves OK? My hands aren't so steady and combined with depth of field at 60x zoom it's hard to look at buds on the plant (blurry, shakey). So I've been pinching off a sugar leaf every few days to check out on my steady desk, rather than pick apart the lovely buds.

[Serrated edge]

Why count from 12/12 when it's not in flower for about 12 to 14 days after the flip

 

2 days after flip it's not in flower ,,5 days after flip it's not in flower ,,plants ,,,are in flower when they have flowers,so the best time to count is when you can see with the naked eye that it is in flower ..

 

It's really simple but too many people count from flip ,,,makes no sense why.

 

 

As for a rich colour to your triches ,,some strains are only faintly amber some very dark ,some go reddish ,,so looking for a rich colour with a new strain is putting expectations on the plant that it may not meet.

 

Same with waiting for pistles to brown off .ive had Plant go completely brown at about the fifth week of flower ,,,still needed another four or so weeks to fill out,,,also you'll get plants that just keep throwing white hairs at the twelve week mark. ..these things can often be seen within the same strain so nothing is a certainty,,,just a guide ,,in time you'll learn to make judgments just by looking at the plant ,and maybe a quick touch of it.

[pedro de pacas]

I always count from 12/12, mark the calendar when there flipped, any other way is bullshit, the last Thai GT i grew took 8 weeks of 12 to start flowering 

so to me it was a 20+ week strain, not a 12+ week strain if ya started counting when it starts to flower

 

seed companies are all over the place with their times, best of disregarding them, just pull ya pot when its ready

[Joe Dirte]

Old skool Commercial growers go 8weeks or when the pistils (white hairs) turn brown

Things have been refined a bit more using scopes to check trichome colour.

But if you leave her those pistils will brown, die off and disappear. Meanwhile the bud swells from within as a new set of pistils develop and burst forward

I allow my plants to go thru this process 3 times, pushing her to 12wks. Then I flush for 5-7 days, changing my flush fluid (straight pH adjusted water) daily. So that's 13 weeks all up.

The additional maturity is well worth the wait (and weight). The maturity also shows in the flavour and aroma of the resulting smoke. The hash is exquisite

Is it worth it? HELL YEA!!!

Put it this way, I'll never do another 8week grow again

 

Edit: I've also found that once you start you flush the maturing process pretty much stops, so get her to the colour and maturity you want, then flush. Don't be thinking 'Ohh she'll mature more during her flush period", she won't.

 

Merl1n

Thanks Merlin good advice as always [emoji4]

Sir psycho hashy once told me this also, where is that guy these days hope he is ok, i miss his journals

 

 

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[Veritas629]

Hmm, seems I've found one of the many many topics in cannabis that everybody has different view on. Maybe a better question is: By leaving them longer, am I hurting anything? I've read suggestions that the THC converts to CBD over time, indicated by more Amber trichs. However the responses above, don't seem too concerned with extending the time....